I often hire help on my farm, Bluestem Stables. This year I have a fence that needs painting on top of all the usual maintenance – mowing pastures and trails, fixing fences, clearing fallen trees, etc. I thought it might be a good opportunity to teach my boyfriend’s kids about work, money and responsibility. I have left a section of fence for them to paint when they occasionally come over.
Here are some lessons they may have learned.
You Snooze You Lose
I gave the first opportunity to running the show to the older daughter who is 15. I sent her an RFP (request for proposal). She did not respond by the due date or step up to the plate on any communication related to the project. She always asks for paid work when she comes over, so I know she likes the money. Since she did not respond I gave the opportunity to her younger (11) sister instead.
How to Get Fired
For the rest of the fence and other work I put out an ad. I had quite a response. I decided to give a person that did not have the farm equipment experience the fence portion of the job. I sent her a description and set a time to meet her at the farm. She was late. I gave her a second chance. She then didn’t show up when she said she was going to and did not inform me. Then she scraped the wrong section of fence (which we had walked through and described), left the lid off the expensive paint, did not get a visible amount of work done in the time she said she spent at it, spent a lot of time on her phone when she was supposed to be working and more. I told her that her services were no longer needed. She then blamed me for not being able to pay for her college. I sent her a little something for her effort and an article on self-responsibility and blame. People often externalize the problems they cause.
How to be Productive
When teaching the kids how to earn as much per hour as possible we did the math. We measured the length of fence to be completed and then set daily and hourly goals to achieve that. We refined the scraping process to make it as quick as possible. We discussed sticking to the work in long segments in order to save clean up time and such.
How to Negotiate Pay
The youngest decided to hire one of her friends to help. She had to negotiate pay, when she would get paid and productivity. She decided to also hire her older sister. With my coaching on a reasonable hourly fee, we discussed whether she would be more productive than a much younger girl. She asked for twice the pay. It was negotiated down a bit. Unfortunately, she did not produce double or a lot more than the younger girl and that was discussed. She may not be hired back next time. I have a staff member that jokingly says, “don’t pay me more, then you will expect a lot more.”
How to Maintain Relationships
I was concerned that the youngest would become too bossy with her friend. I explained it is very difficult to hire friends or family. You don’t want to hurt the relationship and it may not be worth it. I encouraged her instead of being bossy to lead by asking questions. How much fence did you complete compared to the other? Can you do this faster? She also earned more than them as the owner of the project. We encouraged her to not brag about this.
Money Management
The project is paid on a percent completion and certain sections have to be done by certain dates. She is then paid when those percentages are complete. A large chunk is left for the end to make sure the job is completed. The first payment was for 25%. She got it done early and did the math to show me it was 50% complete. Cool beans, she got 50% ahead of deadline and earned quite a bit per hour. We have started to talk about how to save money, not to spend more than you earn, to set goals and so forth.
How might these lessons apply in your life? Do you have a sense of urgency? Are you as productive as those around you? Do you take self-responsibility when you don’t perform up to the level of others? If you want to be paid more are you able to produce more? Do you manage you money well or are you like congress?
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